Animorphs: The Phantom Chronicals
by Son of Zeus0001
Summary: This story has been adopted by Ani-DP-TT-H-Ben 10 Fan.
1. The Prologue

**AN: HI! So, this is something that I've wanted to do for a while. I just didn't really have time. And, to be honest, still don't. But, I'm gonna do it anyway. I probably shouldn't be starting this with my other story "The Halfa Project" so recently started... but once again: I'm going to do it anyway! So, sorry if you're annoyed at me for it. This will also be a slow updating thing. Each chapter is going to be one book from the Animorphs series with Danny and co. worked into the story in various ways. There will be several things that I change about the series. The books will rotate through view points like they did in the actual series, but I'll throw view points from Danny and Jazz into the cycle as well. And yes, I know the prologue is short. Sorry 'bout that.  
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**Disclaimer: If I owned either series, they both would have ended differently, and I'd be sitting on my but right now, doing whatever the heck I wanted... well crud, this falls under that statement. Umm... YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! I DON'T OWN EITHER SERIES!  
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**The Prologue:**

**Amity Park / Fenton Residence / Unknown Room / 7:45 pm:**

The room was small, with one door that took up almost half of the far wall. It was lined in metal and other materials, making it undetectable from the outside as well as giving the room a look not unlike that of a spaceship. To emphasize that feel, a large machine sat in the middle of the room. panels filled with buttons were visible on one side of the machine – a holographic communicator of sorts. To the side of the holographic terminal, squeezed into one side of the already cramped room, was a desk with a faintly blue glowing laptop computer resting on top of it.

Iniss 577 waited frustratedly next to the projector, impatient for the Visser to show himself. Their meeting had been scheduled for 7:45 and he was two minutes late. It infuriated her. She would never remark upon it to his face. One simply did not do that to a superior officer, especially one in command of the invasion of a planet. Well, one did not do that if they wanted to keep living. That didn't change her mood though.

No. She wasn't stupid. She knew what would happen to her if she offended the Visser. She would end up on the floor of a room similar to this, dead. No, she wasn't that stupid.

_Have I mentioned how barbaric and disgusting your people are?_

Iniss 577 rolled her host's eyes in response. It was a human gesture, not holding any weight to anyone who hadn't controlled a human host before. It gave off a sense of annoyance or mild amusement. An odd combination in her opinion. _Oh, be quiet human. The least you could do is allow me to control your body without inane comments every thirty seconds. It isn't like your opinion matters anymore._

_Go to hell!_

Iniss 577 chuckled to herself at the human's reaction. _Did I strike a nerve? Just think what it will be like when your children have been infested? Your daughter is intelligent for a human. She might actually be worth something to us. Your son though is a great disappointment. Although… he isn't really your son is he?_ She suppressed a burst of glee at the humans instant fury. It was far too easy to torment her host, though she didn't mind that. It just made it more amusing when she managed to draw the woman's temper to a blaze.

_If you _dare_ touch a single hair of their heads, I'll –_

Iniss 577 cut her off with a cruel laugh. _You'll do what? Watch me bring them to the Yeerk pool to be infested? Yes, you will. It is time for you to face it Madeline, you aren't in control anymore. You never will be again, no matter how hard you fight or struggle. You're my host. I control you. You have the honor of being mine to do with as I please. Do not think otherwise._

There was a long silence from her host, along with a sense of hurt and sadness. Iniss 577 did not see what the woman had to be sad about. It was the simple truth. The woman should be honored to be a host to any Yeerk, no matter what their rank. It was an oddity about humans that she did not understand. True, other races fought their control. But, humans fought, and never seemed to tire in the deliverance of their insults or complaints.

It was enough to – as the humans would say – drive her up a wall. The saying didn't make sense to her. But, it seemed to be understood by her host as a flash of amusement and triumph flashed through the woman._ Silence!_

_I didn't say anything._ The woman sounded amused, perhaps a little contemptuous. Humans were frustrating. That was all there was to it as far as Iniss 577 saw it. She would much prefer one of those walking weapons, even with the speech impediment that they occasionally posed. They were so much more useful, and deadly.

_Silence human! Or I shall order the infestation of your husband and children immediately and make you watch as their heads are forced under. Just think, your little Danny as one of us. Maybe I'd try to see if I could get him assigned to fight off-world. He might die in the line of duty, serving the will of the Yeerk empire.I'd give him two days at most. I could make it happen. I will, if you don't shut up._

The woman fell silent as horror stole through her at the thought of her little boy, enslaved to a creature as vile as the one in her own head. The woman wanted to cry as images of his broken body flowed hauntingly through her mind.

Iniss 577 laughed. _Would I really do that?_ A flicker of hesitation went through the woman at the question. Hesitation and… hope. Iniss 577 curled the woman's lips into a pleasant smile. _Yes, I would. So, shut up._

She turned her attention away from the human, tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. The meeting had been set for 7:45. It was now 7:50. The Visser was testing her patients, even if he was infinitely greater in rank than she. A commanding officer should be punctual among other things.

The terminal flickered, and an image appeared above it. Iniss 577 could instantly feel the disgust and horror from her host. The image in front of her was an abomination as she saw it. A thing that should never have existed. Personally, she had to agree with her host.

The image was of a quadruped that resembled something akin to the earth legend of a "centaur" with a few key differences. First, the tail wasn't that of a horse. It was far more like that of a scorpion, with a long and dangerous looking blade extending from the end of it. There wasn't a stinger. The creature didn't need one. The blade would be far more effective. Also, its fur wasn't brown or any other color a horse would normally have. It was blue. If that didn't make it weird enough, there were four eyes. Two normal ones, and two on eye-stalks poking up above its head.

There was an instinctive hatred in Iniss 577, overridden only milliseconds after she saw the thing by the almost tangible feeling of contempt and dislike that the creature gave off. It was Visser Three. The Visser in charge of the invasion of Earth. The only Andalite controller.

Envy was the next gut reaction. An Andalite host… the imagination could go wild with such possibilities. To hold one of the most feared creatures in the Yeerk empire as a host would give influence and power that few others held.

The Visser fixed both stalk eyes on her. (Report Iniss 577.)

Iniss 577 forced her host to nod, ignoring the irritation that the woman felt. "Yes Visser. We have managed to engineer draken beams from this primitive earth technology. I have managed to convince the fool of a man that this host calls her husband to keep the information under wraps." There was a flare of anger from her host. Iniss smirked mentally at her and continued her report. "He will not expose any of this to the public, and will continue to build more of whatever we ask. He is not aware of the invasion and I see no reason to infest him. He is not worth the trouble. The children are also unaware of the invasion, though it is impossible to keep the technology secret from them. I expect to have another eighteen functioning draken beams by the next human year if we can continue to obtain materials as we have."

The Visser nodded. (Your progress is slower than I would wish Iniss 577)

She forced her host to bow. "My apologies Visser. It is not easy with these primitive tools. If I had the equipment available at the Sulp Niaar pool, it would progress faster."

The Visser's eyes sharpened, a menacing light dancing in their depths for a moment as he watched his subordinate. (The invasion must go as planned.)

Iniss 577 nodded worriedly. Her host was finding a distinct glee in the Vissers treatment of Iniss 577, and she didn't like it. "I agree Visser. But, I would serve best at the Sulp Niaar pool, with the proper supplies. Besides, our other projects aren't going smoothly here either."

The Visser's image nodded, both eye-stalks focusing on her more intently than they had before. (And what of the Aurora device?)

Iniss 577 felt a stab of panic at the thought of what she was about to report. It was not good news. "Our first test subject revealed that the difference in DNA structure is too great for the Aurora device to work successfully on a human – even though their DNA is uncannily similar to that of the Khanassin. The first subject did not react well to its effects. Vladimir is unfortunately not a valid host any longer." She paused for a moment, organizing her thoughts. "Our second attempt failed miserably. It activated on its own while we were not present, solidified, and opened a gateway to somewhere through Z-space. We were forced to seal it, though my host's husband insists on 'studying' it. It has caused several insidents, though none that were not containable." She willed her host to lick her lips. She was nervous about this next part, unsure how the Visser would take it. it was hard to tell sometimes what he would do. "I would not suggest continuing the project. It will only damage more potential hosts."

There was an almost physical sense of fury clogging the air as Visser Three answered. (WAS THAT AN ORDER INISS 577?!)

Iniss could feel her host's fear vaguely, somewhere beyond her own overwhelming terror. "No Visser."

The cloud of anger and rage lessened slightly as the Visser's full attention fixed on the cowering Iniss 577. (Very well. Your chances are growing slim Iniss. Do not fail me again. You are to relocate to the Sulp Niaar pool Immediately and continue your work there.)

"Thank you Visser. I will not fail in this."

The Visser gave a derisive snort as the Z-space transponder dimmed, and his image vanished.

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**AN: Ooh! Maddie's a controller! Bet you didn't see that coming until you read the first line! did you? Also, this is vaguely AU just so their ages all fit together. And, well, you can probably guess the rest of the AU bit from the prologue. **


	2. The Invasion(Teaser)

**AN: Okay, so, here's a second teaser for the excuse of giving out an announcement. I have fixed my issues with the story and it should go ahead as originally scheduled! I am currently writing Chapter 7 of book one(incase you wanted an update) and plan to have Chapter 8 written before I go to bed.**

**The Invasion**

**Chapter One:**

My name is Danny. Just Danny. There's a lot of reasons why I can't tell you my full name. a lot or really good, really scary reasons. First of all, it would be too dangerous. If I told you my full name, they could find my friends and I. I don't even want to think about that. Controllers – that's what we call them – aren't kind to people who resist them. What they do to you… it's one of those things that gives you nightmares that you can't wake up from. It's one of those things that you have to live with for the rest of your life, just wishing you could tell someone, and knowing you can't. So yeah, I'm not going to tell you my full name.

Besides, I'm not really sure what it is anymore anyway. So, that's another reason I can't tell you. It's hard to tell someone your real name when you're not even sure what it is yourself. I mean, I know the name I was given at birth. I know the name I've been called since I was little. The question is: Which one would I tell you?

So, I'll just make it simple. I'm Danny. That's all you need to know.

I won't tell you where I live either. If I did that, well… it's simple mathematics. The Controllers would just kill all the Dannys in the area. Other than that, it doesn't really matter. You'll just have to trust me that this town… it's real. It may even be _your _town.

We live in a pretty nice – if not overly large – house. By "we" I mean mom, dad, Jazz, and me. Jazz is my older sister with an IQ that puts a walrus's weight to shame. Okay, that was exaggeration, but it really seems like that sometimes. Mom and dad are scientists working on some top secret thing they won't tell us anything about. But, it's big. I just wish we didn't know what it was. But, you'll find out about that later.

I'm writing this so someone will know. People need to know the truth about what's happening here, on earth. People need to know so humans can survive until the Andalites can rescue us like they promised.

People need to know that we're fighting, and wont stop.

My life was never really "normal" by anyone's definition of the word. I mean, how normal can your life really be when the people raising you are basically mad scientists? It just doesn't work like that. No matter how much Jazz or I wanted it to, it just didn't. Life just wasn't normal. And, it never would be.

Other than that and the super-powers – I got them when I was inside an invention my parents made and it turned on – I was pretty normal. I played video games. I hung out with friends. I got a B- average in school. I got stuffed in lockers on a semi-daily basis. You know, usual teenager stuff.

I never thought my life could get too much weirder. Not until that Friday night. Jazz and I were at the mall. Mom and dad were working late and we had already finished our homework. So, we'd decided to look around the town a bit. We were at the food court, taking a break from walking around.

It was getting kind of late and we were hungry. We'd just figured, you know, mom and dad wouldn't cook dinner. They were too busy with work. So, the food court was probably about the best we were going to get. We'd decided upon Chinese food, and it wasn't half bad.

Jazz was reading one of the books that made up her practically endless collection. I was trying to entertain myself by people-watching. I mean, what else was I going to do, really? I kept getting distracted though, and couldn't focus on the people around me.

My mind kept drifting back to the subject that had been bothering me all day – to mom and dad. They hadn't been the same recently, ever since slightly before we moved. I mean, dad was his usual over-excitable, fudge-loving, mad genius self. He was always focused on work, so that wasn't really weird or anything.

Mom usually at least had time to talk to us though. Usually she'd set what ever she was working on down and talk to us if we needed something. But, recently she'd been so absorbed by her work that it was like she didn't even care that we existed unless she needed help or something. We'd tried to fake an interest in her work, you know, to actually spend time with her. But, even then she didn't seem to have time for us.

Well, anyways, we were just finishing up our food when someone walked up to us. It was this girl that I'd seen around school a couple times, you probably know the type. She looked great, like really great. She had blonde hair and these amazing blue eyes. And she had that sort of very clean, very wholesome look. I mean, she looked like she just walked out of a fashion magazine or something. She also had this kind of grace to her that just shouted gymnast.

She gave me this smile that would have made Tucker – he's one of my friends from back home, before we moved – propose on the spot. "Hey, you're the new kids right?"

Jazz looked up from her book, smiling nervously. We hadn't had the best experience with other students in any school we'd been to. I mean, there are only so many times you can get locked inside your own locker before it sinks in that having "ghost hunters" for parents just isn't cool. "Yeah…"

The girl smiled nervously at me, and I was completely prepared for her to dump my tray of food over my head and walk away. I mean, that's just what happens to us on a regular basis. Well, that and fighting ghosts. But, that was kind of over now, with mom and dad completely absorbed in their new jobs. "This is really kind of awkward. But, my friend –" She gestured behind her towards a nervous looking dark-skinned girl in jeans and a plaid shirt. "– was wondering if she recognized you from somewhere…"

I swear I almost died, choking on a piece of sesame chicken. Jazz gave me a worried look, that look you give someone you know is uncomfortable. If you haven't figured it out yet, I don't get recognized by people… ever. I returned it with a "cover for me or I'm going to die" look. She did.

Jazz laughed nervously. There weren't very many places people would recognize _me_ from. There were only two options really. One, well that would just be awkward and potentially end with me in a government lab somewhere, strapped down to an examination table. The other, well I'd completely forgotten about it at the time. "Really? I mean, he had this run in with a gorilla once, but I didn't think that was really big news." Jazz paused, frowning in thought.

While she was doing that I bent down and turned my hand intangible – yeah, I can do that, remember: examination table – and pulled the chicken out of my throat. I continued coughing for a couple seconds before sitting back up, my arm no longer intangible.

The blonde girl was looking at me like I was some sort of alien or something. Kind of funny now that I think about it actually. "Are you okay?"

I grinned at her. "Yeah, I just…" I trailed off. I mean, advertising that you get picked on constantly wasn't really the kind of thing you wanted to do. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She nodded slowly, still looking concerned. "You had a run in with a gorilla?"

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Yeah… it's a really long story."

She smiled again. "So… would you two like to join us? We were going to head home. But, you know, I bet the gorilla story is interesting."

It took us a moment to really figure out that she'd just invited us to walk home with her and her friend. I mean, that's not what happens to us… ever. The insides of lockers. Food in our faces. Toilets. That's what happens to us normally. Well, that and ghosts. But… we don't usually get invited to hang out by anyone other than Tucker or Sam. And, they were back in our previous home town so we couldn't really do that.

I felt an immediate surge of excitement at the idea that we'd just been invited to hang out with someone. I glanced at Jazz. She looked worriedly between me and the blonde girl, like she was expecting a trick. I smiled reassuringly at her. "Come on. You know nothing's going to happen to you while I'm around."

Jazz nodded slowly and we got up and followed the blonde girl over to where her friend was still standing nervously. Up close they looked like complete opposites. The dark-skinned girl was wearing what looked kind of like farm clothes, while the blonde girl was a walking fashion statement. They made an odd pair – something you'd never see in our previous home town.

Jazz and I exchanged nervous smiles with the dark-skinned girl.

The blonde girl seemed to realize something at that moment and turned back to look at us. "Hey, sorry but, I didn't ask your names."

Jazz smiled, tightening her grip on her psychology book. "I'm Jazz, and this is Danny."

The dark-skinned girl made a sound that I'm pretty sure was her choking on her own tongue – even though that's not physically possible for humans. But, before she could say anything, the blonde girl nodded and smiled at me. "Rachel. And, this is Cassie."

We started heading towards the exit in a sort of awkward silence. Just as we were about to leave though, some guys caught up with us.

"You guys going home?" the first guy asked, smiling at Rachel. He was a little taller than me, with pale skin. His hair was brown. And his eyes were a similar color. "You shouldn't go through the construction site by yourselves. I mean, being girls and all." The guy seemed to realize he made a mistake about a second later.

Rachel gave him this look like he was going to die, sort of similar to Sam when Tucker tried to get her to eat meat. "Are you going to come and protect us, you big strong m-a-a-a-n?" she said. "You think we're helpless just because –"

"I'd appreciate it if they did walk with us" Cassie interrupted. Her voice was soft, but insistent, her cheeks slightly red when she looked at Jake. "I know _you're _not afraid of anything, Rachel, but I guess I am."

Rachel just stopped, still glaring at Jake, but not saying anything.

One of the guys – He had this kind of jokester look to him – started laughing to himself and patted Jake on the shoulder. "Jake, man, you lost that before it started anyway."

Jake glanced at him, confused for a moment. The guy just grinned at me like I was some sort of evil genius of pranks. So, I smiled and stretched my hand out to shake Jake's. "Hey."

Jake glanced at me and the other guy just burst out laughing again when Jake realized his original mistake.

Rachel smiled in a way that reminded me of Jazz when she was trying to act superior. "Jake, meet Danny. Danny, meet my cousin Jake."

So, there we were. The seven of us – Marco, Tobias, Jazz, Cassie, Jake, Rachel, and me. Six normal mall rats, and a not so normal mall rat, heading home.

Sometimes I think about that one, last moment when we were still just mostly normal kids and I was just a kid who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and got super-powers out of the deal. It's like it was a million years ago, like it was a completely different group of kids. You know what I was afraid of right then? I was afraid that I'd get home and mom would have blown up the oven again, or maybe the fridge. Or, maybe they'd want to rebuild the ghost portal. But, you know, that was stuff I could handle. That was as scary as life got back then.

Five minutes later, life got a whole lot scarier.

To get home from the mall, we could either go the long way around. That's the generally accepted safe way. The other way was to cut through this old abandoned construction site. Dad warned me and Jazz the first day that we moved in that we'd spend a night in the Fenton Stockades if he ever found out we'd gone anywhere near the place. I mean, what parent wouldn't? Although, the stockades is kind of extreme. I will admit that.

So, anyway, we crossed the road and headed into the construction site. It was this big area, surrounded on two sides with trees. Jazz called them Carnivorous or something like that. Between the mall and the construction site was the highway. There was this big, open field between the construction site and the nearest houses that actually looked like it would be a pretty good place to run around. Basically, the construction site is pretty isolated.

There were these half-built structures all over the place, kind of like a ghost town. Ha! See what I did there? Wow that was bad. Anyway, there were these big steel beams all over the place in big piles, and pyramids of concrete pipes, little mountains of dirt; deep pits that had filled up with black, muddy water and stagnated; and a creaking, rusted construction crane. Jazz and I had sat up there our second night in town, just talking until we almost fell asleep and barely avoided falling off.

It was completely deserted, full of shadows and sounds that made you look around to make sure you weren't being followed. It was just that kind of place. It gave off that kind of vibe. I could see old campfires that had been covered up by stray pieces of paper or some rubble. There were occasional patches of broken glass too – bottles and beer cans. That kind of thing.

Tobias saw it first. He had been walking along, looking up at the sky. I guess he was looking at the stars or something. That's what I was doing. I guess we're similar in that way, I don't know – just drifting in our own little worlds. Although, for me it's always thinking about flying. Flying in the night like I'd done almost every day for the past few months, just enjoying the cool night air and the peaceful silence. I'm not sure what it was for him back then.

Suddenly Tobias stopped. He was pointing almost straight up. "Look" he said.

I saw it almost immediately. It was this weird glowing light thing, really high up. For a moment both jazz and I froze, thinking it was a ghost before remembering that mom and dad had shut down the portal.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Just look" Tobias said insistantly. his voice was strange. I couldn't blame him. I mean, it's not every day you see a giant blue-white light in the sky, much less one that moved. It didn't look like a shooting star. I could tell that almost immediately. It didn't move right, and it was too bright. It also didn't leave a trail behind it.

Jake's head turned up to look where Tobias was pointing. Confusion masked his face for a moment. "What is it?" he asked.

Tobias shook his head. "I don't know."

Jake, Tobias, and I exchanged a look. The three of us knew what we _thought _it was, but we didn't want to say it. It was too ridiculous. It would be the "ghost hunter" parents all over again – at least for me. Marco and Rachel would have probably laughed at us.

But Cassie and Jazz just blurted it right out. "It's a flying saucer!"

**Chapter Two:**

"A flying Saucer?" Marco said. We'd been right. He did laugh… until he looked up. Then he stopped and went really quiet for a moment, like someone had disconnected his brain.

I could feel that feeling. You know, the one that people always describe before a battle. That nervous excitement that just humms through the air and makes you want to keep moving. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling to me. I'd been in fights with ghosts before, if not very many. It only took me a second to get it under control again.

"It's coming this way" Rachel said.

"It's hard to be sure" Jake whispered, but I heard him.

I shook my head. "No. It's coming this way. You can tell by the angle." Yeah, I'm a NASA nerd, I know stuff like that. Well, the basics anyway. Don't ask me to do any advanced calculations or anything. It's not going to happen. That's more Jazz's area of expertise.

Rachel nodded as if the matter was settled and turned back to look up at the space-ship. It was coming closer, slowing down. I could see what it looked like pretty clearly.

It was surprisingly small, like smaller than what science should be able to manage at our current level. It was about as long as a school bus, maybe a little shorter. It was kind of hard to tell in the dark. The front was in this pod shape, almost like an egg. Jutting out from the back of the pod was this long, narrow shaft. There were these two crooked wing-like things that went against pretty much everything I'd learned about space-ships. Attached to the wings were these tube things that glowed bright blue at the back.

It looked almost cute, you know. It looked kind of harmless, except it had this tail thing. The tail curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a needle. Something flickered in the back of my mind and I suddenly had an image of formations upon formations of these things in the skies. It was an awe inspiring image. Row upon row of blue glowing ships, needle tails pointed forward at… whatever these things would fight.

"That tail thing," Jake said. "It looks like a weapon."

"Definitely" Marco agreed.

The little spaceship kept coming closer, slowing down.

"It's stopping" Jazz said. She had the same not-quite-real tone to her voice that Jake had. Like they didn't believe what they were seeing. Like they didn't want to believe. Funny, when you think about all the stuff that Jazz and I have been through. You'd think she'd take the word "impossible" out of her vocabulary.

"I think it sees us" Marco said. "Should we run? Maybe we should run home and get a camera. Do you know how much money we could get for a video of a real UFO?"

"If we run, they might… I don't know, zap us with their phasers on full power" Jake said. I think he meant it as a joke. But, the situation kind of killed it.

"Phasers are only on _Star Trek_" Marco said, rolling his eyes like he was some kind of alien expert or something. Right.

The ship stopped and hovered almost directly above us, maybe a little more than one-hundred feet in the air. I could feel the hair on my head standing on end. When I glanced at Jazz and Rachel, it was kind of funny. They both have really long hair, and it was sticking out in every direction, even tangling together in places. Only Cassie looked normal.

"What do you think it is?" asked Jazz. Her voice had that same note of wonder that it always held when she was absorbed in one of her psychology books. She sounded a little nervous too, like the first time she'd seen a ghost up close. I was a little scared to be completely honest. But, at the same time I had this… I guess I could call it a feeling. it was like I _knew_ beyond anything else I'd ever known that the being in the spaceship wouldn't hurt us. It's hard to explain.

Tobias was actually grinning. But, that's kind of just how he is. Weird stuff never frightens him. It's one of the things I like about him actually, his ability to accept the wierd without question. "I think it's going to land!" he said. He had this big goofy grin on his face that would have made Sam wonder if she were looking at a mirror image of me. Except for the blond hair standing up in big clumps I guess.

The ship began to descend. "It's coming right at us!" Jake cried.

I had to fight an urge to grab them all and go intangible. That would have raised the weirdness scale up at least a few notches. A few notches some of them probably couldn't handle. Jake looked torn, like he wanted to run but knew he couldn't. This was too important for any of us to run.

I guess the others felt the same way because we all just stood there as the ship hummed and glowed and settled onto the ground. It parked itself – does a spaceship park? – in an open area, clear of the debris and half-built structures. I could see burn marks on the top of the pod section, and some of it had been melted. It looked like an ecto-gun or something had shot it up. A really, really big ecto-gun. The moment the ship touched the ground, the blue light winked off. Rachel and Jazz's hair fell back down to hang normally again.

"It isn't very big, is it?" Rachel whispered.

"It's about –" Jake frowned. "about three or four times as big as our minivan."

"We should tell someone" Marco said. "I mean, this is kind of major, you know? Spaceships don't just land in the construction site every day. We should call the cops or the army or the president or something. We'd be totally famous. We'd get to be on Letterman for sure."

"Yeah, you're right" Jake said. "We should call someone." But none of us moved. None of us was just going to walk away from a spaceship – even Jazz and I weren't that jaded. I mean, a couple months of ghost incidents doesn't mean you're completely adapted to the weird. Especially when that _weird_ is an alien spaceship landing ten feet from you.

Rachel frowned. "Do you think we should try to talk to it?" She was standing with her hands on her hips, looking at the spaceship like it was a big puzzle that she had to figure out or something. "I mean, we should communicate. If that's even possible."

Tobias nodded. he stepped forward, arms outstretched. I guess he was showing whoever was in the shp that he was unarmed. "It's safe" he said in a loud, clear voice. "We won't hurt you."

"I wonder if they understand English?" Jazz asked to nobody in particular.

I almost laughed at the thought. An alien arrives. Seven kids are there to talk to it… and it doesn't speek English. Although, the super advanced spaceship did suggest a lot of intelligence, looking back on that night.

"Well, everyone speaks English on _Star Trek_" Cassie said with a nervous laugh.

Tobias tried again. "Please come out. We won't hurt you."

(I know.)

I stiffened. I had definitely heard someone say "I know" only… I didn't really _hear _it. it was like… this voice in my head or something. the weird thing… I mean other than the whole voice in my head thing… I could swear I _knew_that voice from somewhere.

I glanced at Jazz. She looked back at me. Our eyes met. Electric, sky blue. Deep, endless, sapphire. She'd heard it too. I looked at Marco. He was standing there looking ready to pee his pants. But, he looked I don't know if there's a word for it. It was this weird mix of excitement and wonder.

"Did everyone hear that?" Tobias whispered.

We all nodded once, very slowly.

"Can you come out?" Tobias asked in his loud talking-to-aliens voice.

(Yes, do not be frightened.)

"We won't be frightened" Tobias said.

"Speak for yourself" Jake muttered. The others giggled nervously.

A blue arc of light appeared, a doorway opening in the side of the pod part of the ship. I stood there, totally hypnotized. It all seemed so familiar, like I'd seen it before, like I was dreaming something I had lived through already. I just watched as the blue arc enlarged and formed a doorway. I just stood there.

The arc grew. Like a crecent moon at first. Then, it became a full circle in the side of the pod. A circle of too familiar blue light.

And then he appeared.

The guy looked like a cross between a person and a dear – kind of like a centaur. The guy looked pretty normal… I mean, from the waist up. He had everything where it was supposed to be. There were just a few major differences. First of all, his skin was blue. Like actually blue. Below the waist he had a mix of blue and tan fur, covering a four legged body that seriously looked like he'd stolen it from a dear. A blue and tan dear.

He ducked his head outside the doorway and I could see that even the normal looking parts of him didn't look normal. Okay, this sounds weird, but it's the best way to describe him. He had no mouth. I'm not kidding. He really didn't have a mouth, just three vertical slits. And then there were his eyes. He had four of them. Two were where eyes normally should be. The other two were on eye-stalks above the first pair.

The eyes were surprising. The tail was just frightening. It was this big thing, like someone had taken one of those giant scorpions from that movie about the titans and stuck it on this guy's butt. And, instead of a stinger, he had a blade. It actually kind of looked like the tail of his spaceship.

"Hello" Tobias said. His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a little kid or a puppy or something. He was grinning.

I realized I was also smiling. Though, my smile was quieter, more peaceful, and less ecstatic than his. I could feel a familiarity about the creature, I felt comfortable near him. It was like I'd known him forever, but hadn't seen him in a long time.

(Hello) the alien said in my mind.

"Hi" we all said in unison. What else was there to say? Really?

Before we could do anything else, he staggered. He fell out of the ship to the ground. Tobias and I tried to grab him, but he slipped from our grip and fell back to the dirt.

"Look!" Cassie cried. She pointed at a burn that covered half the blue-dear-alien-centaur's side. "He's hurt."

(Yes, I am dying) he said.

"Can we help you? We could call an ambulance…" I trailed off as the aliens stalk eyes fixed on me. They seemed to widen slightly as he saw me and a _feeling_ flashed through my mind.

It wasn't really formed enough to be an image. I don't know how to describe it. A woman's voice that I couldn't understand. Shouts. Noise. I think explosions? I couldn't tell. But… it's hard to explain. It wasn't really images or sounds or anything like that. It was just… this sense of all that stuff.

"We can bandage that wound" Cassie said. I didn't really register what she was saying. I was too busy looking at the alien in front of me, staring into those green eyes filled with shock and… possibly a bit of… fear? "Jake, give me your shirt. We can tear it up and make bandages" Cassie continued. I still didn't really register what she was saying. That feeling was too fresh. I couldn't breath. I just stared at the alien in front of me.

The fear seemed to leak away as I watched his eyes, replaced by determination. (No) he said. (I will die. The wound is fatal.)

"No!" Jake shouted. "You can't die. You're the first alien ever to come to earth. You can't die."

(I am not the first. There are many, many others.) His eyes fixed on me with an almost triumphant gleam. But I saw fear in there too. It was tightly controlled. But it was there.

The alien shook his big head side to side, slowly. He seemed sad. (No, not loke me.)

Then he cried out in pain. It was silent, echoing inside our heads like the call of some haunting angel of the grave. For a moment I could actually _feel _him dying.

(Not like me) He repeated. (They are different.)

"Different how?" Jazz asked. She'd dropped her book on the ground at some point.

He let out a weary sigh as his eye-stalks fixed on me, his other eyes looking at the others. (Most have come to destroy you.)

**AN: Thoughts? Suggestions? Complaints? Please no flames! I do enjoy reviews, they are a great source of encouragement! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this! It means a lot to me!**


	3. Note to Readers

**AN: Hi guys. So, as the summery says, I've lost my motivation to write this whole thing. That, combined with college, another fic that I thought up, and trying to write my own original work, has me completely swamped. So, I have put this up for adoption, and, Ani-DP-TT-PJ-H-Ben 10 Fan has adopted it. I have sent them all my notes... so, yeah...**

**Also, if anyone knows proper fic adoption etiquette, could you PM me with the details? Thanks!**


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